• Journal of the Korean School Mathematics Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.543-567
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• 2008

The current 2007 Mathematics Curriculum in Korea emphasizes mathematical problem solving, advanced mathematical thinking and effective mathematical communicating. Therefore, in order to assess and evaluate these important thinking attributes, performance evaluation using descriptive and essay type of assessments are emphasized. In this paper, analysis of the elementary mathematics curriculum is used to develop descriptive assessment problems and grading rubrics that could be used objectively and consistently by teachers of the grade 6 school mathematics. The assessment problems were developed, pilot tested, revised, implemented and analyzed in detail to understand the overall effectiveness of the descriptive evaluation method in school mathematics.

• Journal of Educational Research in Mathematics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.335-352
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• 2008

The purpose of this research was to investigate the descriptive evaluation method that focuses on the problem solving process of the student. The goal was to evaluate the students' understanding of the subject rather than the students' ability to find the final answer. The descriptive evaluation is being suggested as a way of examining the thought process of the student by performing a structured analysis of the problem solving process. Today, there are not enough descriptive evaluation resources available for teachers to effectively carry out this alternative assessment method in the elementary school mathematics curriculum. This research is a case study on the development of resources for descriptive evaluation in grade 4 mathematics. We designed the development process for descriptive evaluation and its rubric for all 8 units of the 4-Na level of mathematics in the elementary school curriculum. Three descriptive problems were developed for each of the 8 units for a total of 24 problems. The rubric consisted of three areas of assessment, 1) understanding of the problem, 2) problem solving, and 3) mathematical communication. The problems were first pilot tested in two 4th grade classes. Modified problems were then tested in a different 4th grade classroom. The study showed that the three defined areas of evaluation framework (problem understanding, problem solving and mathematical communication) were measurable and analyzable using the developed grading rubric. We then conclude that he descriptive evaluation could be used as an effective tool for improving teacher performance in elementary school mathematics.